Making a paper mache bowl.....the beginning and the end....

My Paper Mache Bowl.......

View from the back.

A side view...

The bowl before it's done...

I bought this book from Amazon.com......immediately I got started making a paper bowl....

We began by going to all the recycling bins form the building and collected newspapers.

Here is Nora tearing the paper into little pieces.

She is placing them in a blender full of water.

we then drained the excess water in the strainer.

Here is the picture of the pulp.

Here is the bowl we will use as a mold.....and some vaseline to coat the sides so our dried paper bowl detaches easily in a few days when it's dry.

Last, I used my hands to spread the pulp all over the bowl covered in vaseline.

My Trial at Making Handmade Paper Bowls

          My son Luke (4),  daughter Nora (1) and I made recycled paper last week. We placed torn newspaper bits and water in a regular blender and made paper pulp. We poured and formed it around a large bowl that had been lined with wax paper and set it over the heater to dry.  We had forgotten about it until now.  I was excited to see it had become quite strong.  

          I got this idea the other day while navigating and browsing through Etsy, the best

 ever handmade storefront of the world,  and found this very exciting store, Paper Bowl Factory. What an inspiration!! I had to try it at least once.  I ordered a book from the library called The Art and Craft of Papier Mache, and it gives you all sorts of descriptive ideas and beautiful inspiring images.....enough to keep me busy for months!

         I will be lining it with Mod Podge glue today and will post more pictures as I discover and play with this new media. 

          Here is a video I found on YouTube about how to make paper.